Day 3 of YMGE

Tonight we have 2 students reporting on their work at the conference. First up is Tarun, the Finnish Minister of Energy, and Rahul, a French member of the EU Parliament, wrote the second paragraph. 

Today in the council of energy ministers, EU members discussed a multitude of ways to deal with the current energy crisis initiated by the Russian oil firm known as Gazprom. Some measures passed by this council include plans to scale up on natural gas imports from OPEC, North Africa, and the Middle East while also turning towards wood-based energy and nuclear power. The council established that scaling up on natural gas imports is a great temporary measure to aid in our attempt to rid the EU of the current crisis. Additionally, wood-based energy, obtained from the forests of Finland, was determined to be another way in which to aid in the transition of the EU from fossil fuel dependence, to clean and renewable energy. The long-term solution to the current energy crisis lies in nuclear energy due to its massive energy output, with relatively few emissions; however, waste disposal in this process must be addressed. (TS)

The day in the European Parliament was an action-packed one as well. Following our resolution passed yesterday, which talked about increasing cyber security and switching from fossil fuel energy to renewable energy in the long run. Today the Parliament was able to figure out who hacked the Russian energy systems. Last night before we recessed we received an anonymous text saying, “PLAN Langos is in action. Plan Langos is in action. TAPTAPTAPATAPT.” Today a new twitter feed named Tapped_Out started tweeting cryptic messages about our committee. One of the members of the Parliament recognized the profile picture for Tapped_Out as the symbol for an Azerbaijani oil company. After a few google searches we were able to discovery that this was the symbol of SOCAR. Later we received an update saying that this was in fact true and SOCAR had committed this crime. Towards the end to the session we passed a resolution that had been created for in coordination with the NATO Committee. I myself also visited the Council of Agriculture and Food to speak with them about their agenda. Tomorrow we plan to vote on another resolution that was made in accordance with NATO. (RP)

At the end of day, we bundled up and hopped on the Metro to dinner. The underground railway system is very easy to use. We dined in the museum district on traditional Hungarian food and took in the sights and smells of the Christmas Market afterwards. 

Now students are in their penultimate session and we are quickly winding up our trip. As a group, we'll attend closing ceremonies and then change clothes and head out for some final sightseeing beginning around the Danube Promenade. Lunch will be at the Christmas Market where street food is available as well as McDonald's and Starbucks. Then we are getting on a touring bus to see the Buda side of the city. We'll try to post a few more pictures tonight; otherwise, it will be a very early bed time. Our shuttle is whisking us away to the airport at 4am tomorrow. See you soon!

Friday 11/28 - Day 2 of YMGE

We started the day by visiting one of the most famous museums in Budapest, The House of Terror. The House of Terror details fascist and communist dictatorial regimes in Hungary. The building at 60 Andrassy is also the exact location where many of the victims of these regimes spent their last days. This was by far one of the must see locations in Budapest. To read more about The House of Terror, see Aliza's Press Corps post: http://ymge.org/press-corps/house-of-terror/

In fact, you can read all of Aliza's Press Corps posts along with other posts at press.ymge.org. This will give you in depth coverage about what the committees are doing daily. Conference was in full swing starting at noon and not ending until 11pm. Needless to say, our delegates were tired after a long day of hard, productive work in their committees. They all spent the time dealing with various crises and had much excitement throughout the day attempting to find solutions. Saving the world is tiring!

First Day of YMGE and Hungarian Parliament Visit

The group started the day off with a visit to the Hungarian Parliament. It is one of Europe's oldest legislative buildings and tallest building in Budapest. The building was built in the Gothic Revival style, but the most impressive detail is that it houses the Holy Crown of Hungary that dates back to the mid thirteenth century and was housed in Fort Knox during the Cold War to keep out of the hands of the Soviets. The parliament building suffered damage during World War II, but all the stain glass windows were secretly hidden in the basements for several years and were later reinstalled. Upon exiting the parliament building we enjoyed walking along the Danube. We then returned to the hotel to prepare for the opening ceremony, delegate dinner (Thanksgiving Dinner) and session one of the YMGE conference. 

For more pictures, check out Ms. Ellis's twitter feed. To follow the crisis that most of our delegates are deliberating, check here.

Bratislava Day Trip

We took a road trip to Bratislava, Slovakia today. Everyone thoroughly enjoyed the day. We learned a lot about the city from our guide, Katarina. The highlights were driving up to a high point in town to see the Slavin war memorial where over 7000 Soviet unknown soldiers are buried, visiting the Bratislava Castle (once home to Maria Teresa's daughter Maria Christina), and spending time walking through Old Town and eating and shopping in the Christmas Markets. Bratislava's Old Town architecture ranges from Medieval to Neoclassical with much in between. Some of the buildings still have remnants of Renaissance era frescoes on the outside. We saw a building with a cannonball still stick in its walls from Napolean's bombardment in 1809. Around 4pm we left Bratislava via our van, headed back to Budapest and began preparing for the start of the conference tomorrow. Happy Thanksgiving!

Soviet memorial to the unknown soldiers, killed in 1944

Bratislava Castle from afar

Walking through a gate that formerly led to a moat at the Castle

Cannonball fired in 1809 by Napolean's troops

Bratislava Christmas Market

Finishing up in Bratislava

First day in Budapest

Today (Tuesday) we were on the ground by lunchtime and quickly exited the airport. Our driver was waiting for us at baggage claim and it was very easy. We were all relieved since we had been in transit for so long. The drive into town was about 30 minutes and we saw a view of the town that is a bit different that what Budapest looks like downtown. There are shopping malls and it looks much newer whereas everything near our hotel is significantly older. After having a bit of rest in the hotel, we ventured out initially to locate the Danube River. We began strolling down Agassy Avenue and stopped for a brief snack of French fries at McDonald's and decided to change routes towards a very large monument. Ultimately we ended up at Heroes Square, Hősök tere.